Iran has ramped up enforcement of the Islamic dress code in the two years since the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained for allegedly improper hijab (head covering). Iran has been “encouraging, sanctioning and endorsing human rights violations against women and girls flouting the mandatory hijab,” according to a report by the U.N. Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran released to mark the anniversary of Amini’s death and the ensuing nationwide protests. The report also noted that courts have been sentencing to death women activists, including some belonging to Iran’s ethnic and religious minorities, for alleged national security offenses. The U.N. fact-finding also urged Iran to halt all executions of protesters. The following are excerpts from the report.
Increased crackdown on women’s rights activism
The targeting of women and girls was particularly evident during the months preceding the two-year anniversary of the September 2022 protests. Concretely, beginning in April 2024, State authorities took harsher measures to silence women’s and girls’ demands for rights and equality and, in turn, eradicate any initiatives of women’s rights activism that have remained after the large-scale protests subsided. These measures included the recent increase in the use of the death penalty of women activists following their convictions for national security offenses, including some belonging to Iran’s ethnic and religious minorities. …
Continued crackdown on women and girls in the context of mandatory hijab enforcement
Though large-scale protests have by now subsided, women and girls’ demand for equality and to end discrimination – which sparked the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement – remain unaddressed. Acts of defiance by women and girls have continued, however, keeping the spirit, aspirations and hope of the movement alive. Their unabated defiance is a continuous reminder that women and girls still live within a system that relegates them to the status of “second class citizens”, which State authorities continuously reinforce through both enacting new measures or exacerbating existing discriminatory policies to suppress and silence their demands.
Increased crackdown on women’s rights activism
The targeting of women and girls was particularly evident during the months preceding the two-year anniversary of the September 2022 protests. Concretely, beginning in April 2024, State authorities took harsher measures to silence women’s and girls’ demands for rights and equality and, in turn, eradicate any initiatives of women’s rights activism that have remained after the large-scale protests subsided. These measures included the recent increase in the use of the death penalty of women activists following their convictions for national security offenses, including some belonging to Iran’s ethnic and religious minorities. …
Continued crackdown on women and girls in the context of mandatory hijab enforcement
Though large-scale protests have by now subsided, women and girls’ demand for equality and to end discrimination – which sparked the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement – remain unaddressed. Acts of defiance by women and girls have continued, however, keeping the spirit, aspirations and hope of the movement alive. Their unabated defiance is a continuous reminder that women and girls still live within a system that relegates them to the status of “second class citizens”, which State authorities continuously reinforce through both enacting new measures or exacerbating existing discriminatory policies to suppress and silence their demands.
In a subsequent speech on 3 April 2024, the Supreme Leader underscored that the Government and the Judiciary have a legal obligation to enforce the mandatory hijab laws, and women and girls, irrespective of their religion, or lack thereof, or beliefs, have a legal obligation to comply with these laws. …
Arbitrary arrests and criminal prosecution of women and girls defying the mandatory hijab
Immediately after the “Noor” plan was launched on 13 April 2024, video footage circulated on social media depicting the increased presence across cities in Iran of security forces and the “morality police”. Iranian media reported that, allegedly, around 500 women and girls had been arrested for non-compliance with the mandatory hijab on that day alone, as soon as the “Noor” plan became operational. …
Physical violence during arrests and in detention of women and girls found to be in violation of the mandatory hijab laws
After the Noor plan began, patterns of physical violence during arrests, including beatings by the “morality police” of women and girls found to have violated the mandatory hijab laws (previously established by the Mission), were further exacerbated.
Shooting
Against the backdrop of the “Noor” plan, on 22 July 2024, a police officer in Noor city (Mazandaran province) shot at a moving vehicle in which 31-year-old Arezou Badri, a shopkeeper and a mother of two, was travelling as a passenger. The shooting caused serious injuries to Ms. Badri’s spinal cord and lung, reportedly leaving her paralysed. The vehicle had been flagged to the police for prior violations of the mandatory hijab laws (see below). ….
Physical violence during arrests and in detention
In one case investigated by the Mission, a woman and her close relative were arrested by the “morality police” in mid-April 2024, for not wearing the mandatory hijab in public in a city in Tehran province. Upon their arrest, the victims were taken to a white van belonging to the “morality police,” where officers held them pinned down to the ground to restrain their movement. One of the victims suffered a leg injury after a “morality police” officer violently shoved her into the van. They were then transferred to a Morality Security Police station in the same city, forced to sign a pledge committing to wear the mandatory hijab in public, and released shortly thereafter on the same day. …
State response
Implicitly acknowledging the violence against women and girls during arrests for alleged violations of the mandatory hijab laws, the Government announced investigations into two cases, about which information had been largely circulated on social media. First, in a video published on 6 August 2024, two girls were violently arrested and beaten by women “morality police” officers for not wearing the mandatory hijab while on a street in Tehran city. On 7 August, the FARAJA information centre announced that this case was under investigation. xxxix Reports indicated, however, that, in the course of this investigation, the mother of one of the child victims was threatened not to file a complaint for the beating endured by her daughter, aged 14 years at the time of the arrest. Iranian media reported on 21 August 2024 that a judicial case has been filed by one of the “morality police” women officers before a juvenile court against one of the girls, thus also criminalizing the child victim. The “morality police” officer claimed that she had suffered an injury to her finger during the incident. …
Use of technology to monitor mandatory hijab compliance of women and girls both online and offline, and inside vehicles
The Islamic Republic of Iran has previously resorted to the use of surveillance, including through expanding coverage of closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) in public spaces to monitor women and girls’ compliance with mandatory hijab laws in public places and in their cars. Women not wearing the mandatory hijab while driving, or being driven in cars, received text messages warning them of penalties for noncompliance, including the impounding of their vehicles or fines.
Online activities
The Government of Iran also sought to suppress women and girls engaged in the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ movement through monitoring and surveillance of their activities online.
For example, on 23 April 2024, Kyomars Aziti, FARAJA commander of western Tehran province, announced that the police had blocked 21 Instagram accounts of users who had a large following, for publishing “inappropriate images” and “breaking the norms.” Likewise, the mobile phone service of 12 women from Tehran, Karaj, Arak and Tabriz had reportedly been disconnected shortly after they expressed criticism over social media regarding the “morality police” and the imposition of the hijab. The suspension was reportedly done at the request of the Organization for Regulation of Communications.